Star Traders: Frontiers News

Welcome all new captains to the latest Star Traders: Frontiers update. With some fixes to the newly added Talents, new sources of Era-driven Rumors, a rebalance for early game Explorers and a platform-specific fix that brings music and SFX back to mac OS, it's big #323.

A huge thanks goes out to everyone leaving a review, posting feedback and sharing the game with friends!

[h2]Want more Trese Brothers sci-fi?[/h2]
We always love seeing how many of you have pieced together the lore of Star Traders from the stories within, and enjoy the flavor of this universe your Captain is a part of. In our next game, we’re telling a very different sci-fi story but with the same depth we bring to all our worlds. Check out the dark-future feel of our upcoming cyberpunk heist RPG, and wishlist it today!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]New Rumor Sources[/h2]
Rumors filter into the simulation by the actions of Contacts, thrown off from Conflicts and Eras, and even caused by the ripple of other Rumors ending. With Update #323, we've adjusted these Rumors flows during 3 Eras of the game to further push certain types of Rumors that fit the Era's storyline and feeling. For early traders and merchants, in the moment of prosperity that is the start of 212 AE, new Surplus Rumors have been seeded into the game. During the founding of the UCF, intergalactic instability and worry causes a flush of new Shortage Rumors to appear and finally, during the 3rd Century as military power continues to build up without an outlet, more and more Mercenary Rumors are occurring.


[h2]Early Game Explorers[/h2]
Reports trickle back slow to the spice hall, stories of warning, danger and death. New Explorers who have sometimes never set foot on a wilderness touch down and take their away team out, searching for riches and ancient sites. Some never return, ripped apart by Terrox or Shalun help them, Jyeeta.

We've made some adjustments to help balance the life of new game Explorers a bit. There are no xeno lurking in the Exchange or the shipping lanes in the first few years of the game, so Explorers -- who could draw multiple xeno cards in a single hand !! -- we're facing an unfair uphill battle at the start of their career. We've now limited Xeno cards from appearing in early game Exploration to avoid this unfair disadvantage to their career.


[h2]Talent Fixes[/h2]
Both of the Swordsman Talents released in last week's update regrettably had issues and could cause crashes when used in crew combat. With this update, we've redone their testing and fixed the Talents to work as well in production as they did during development! En garde, let's fight!

[h2]v3.3.53 - 8/2/2023[/h2]
- Balance Change: Xeno Cards No Longer Appear in early Turn Explorer Hands
- Early game now contains more Surplus Rumors
- UCF Founding now triggers widespread shortages during trade disruptions
- Increased the number of Mercenary rumors that are created for 3rd Century
- Fixed issues with Secrets of Steel
- Fixed issues with Nine Bladed Cut
- Fixed crashes and freezes in Crew Combat
- Card title formatting adjustments in Salvage
- Fixed missing music and SFX for Mac OS

Update #322 continues the push to fill out the high level Talents for crew combatants, bringing 2 new Talents to Swordsman and adjusting the AI talent selections based on all the new adds, fixing Bodyguard selections and making xeno even more dangerous in their Talent picks. We've also added a bit more balance to the latest Soldier Talent additional, Still Standing, and fixed issues with the AI ship builder that could result in enemy ships have the wrong Hyperwarp Drive occasionally.

A huge thanks to everyone posting feedback, sharing the game and leaving a review!

[h2]Stealth Fest Demo![/h2]
Calling all ninjas, shadows, and ghosts in the machine -- Cyber Knights: Flashpoint is waiting to see just how stealthy you can be in our freshly-updated free demo for Steam Stealth Fest this week.
The first rule should probably be, "Don't talk about Stealth Fest", so just roll up your Vanguard, lock-and-load your shock mines and power up your Chameleon suit - it's time to kill quietly, move as a shadow, become one with the patrol routes. Blades and silent pistols are your weapons, speed and silence your friends.

We're excited to share this demo that takes you to the very start of your Cyber Knight's career: the night of your cyber surgery. In the underworld of New Boston, nothing goes down easy and everyone has an agenda. Can you keep your head up in these dangerous waters?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]Swordsman Coming Around![/h2]
Each major crew combat class with missing rank 15 Talents is getting its day - and now it's time for Swordsman to get the treatment. With Update #322, the Swordsman has gained a new rank 11 and new rank 15 Talent to complement their already powerful set.

The new rank 11 Talent, Secrets of Steel is a companion to the venerable Strength of Steel and not related to our other games at all. Secrets of Steel can help a Swordsman who has been knocked back - or retreated of their own will - rapidly recover and get back into the fight and offers some powerful synergy for blade wielders who are willing to exercise additional mobility or fight with an offhand pistol.

Nine Blade Cut is a powerful stunning attack targeted at the front row which can be especially useful if any ranged weapon fighters are brought into the front, as it will further dent their accuracy. Combining Stun with an immediate Initiative penalty, Nine Blade Cut is a great way to slow down and trip enemy combatants and may be - for some strategies - especially useful against xeno.


[h2]High-Level Talent Rebalance[/h2]
As we add a number of new high level crew combat Talents to the game, rebalances are sure to be required. With this update, we've reduced the duration of the Soldier's Still Standing Talent by 1 Turn.

[h2]AI Talent Selection[/h2]
With this update, we've completed another review of the AI Talent selection logic across different enemy types and jobs. We found some issues where enemy Bodyguards would incorrectly purchase Talents from any other job, often beyond the rules of multi-jobbing.

Second, we've updated the logic for how enemy xeno pick their Talents to make them more synergistic as a group. We're sorry in advance. Be sure to buff your armor, sharpen your blades and prepare for the worst if you're high level and tangling with Terrox or Jyeeta.


[h2]Underwhelming HW Drives[/h2]
We fixed an issue for some AI ships which were built with incorrectly sized Hyperwarp drives. Unable to actually send the mass of the ship through a Hyperwarp gate, these could become quite the burden to a captain who captured them with Prize Ship and require a significant retrofit before they could really become useful.

[h2]v3.3.51 - 7/26/2023[/h2]
- New Rank 11 Swordsman Talent: Secrets of Steel
- New Rank 15 Swordsman Talent: Nine Bladed Cut
- Reduced 'Still Standing' Duration by 1 turn
- Fixed issue with AI Bodyguards buying Talents from all Jobs
- Improved Xeno Talent selection logic (sorry!)
- Fixed issue that could cause seized AI ships to have undersized HW drives

Update #321 continues the Summer Sale 50% savings and brings two new powerful rank 15 Talents to core jobs on your ship. Along with the recent Talent upgrades, we've upgraded the AI's weighting and decision tables when planning its own Talent strategy for ship captain and officers. We've also highlighted a few awesome mods from the workshop with Update #321 and fixed all reported typos and crashes.

A big thanks goes out to the community who helps us keep improving Star Traders: Frontiers. If you like the pace of free updates, be sure to drop a review!

[h2]Want more Trese Brothers sci-fi?[/h2]
We always love seeing how many of you have pieced together the lore of Star Traders from the stories within, and enjoy the flavor of this universe your Captain is a part of. In our next game, we’re telling a very different sci-fi story but with the same depth we bring to all our worlds. Check out the dark-future feel of our upcoming cyberpunk heist RPG, and wishlist it today!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]New Rank 15 Talents[/h2]
With Update #321, we've added to new rank 15 Talents to round out the Pilot and Soldier Jobs. The new Soldier rank 15 Talent "Still Standing" is a powerful turtle buff, capable of giving a Soldier a last-stand chance against deadly enemies. Granting massive defensive bonuses in trade for the majority of their Turn's Initiative, Last Standing can be used to make Soldier a defensive bulwark or to desperately try to hold until a Combat Medic can apply healing.

Pilot's rank 15 Talent "Engage Fighters" trades accuracy and Damage against capital ship in order to significantly buff both offensive and defensive capabilities against fighters. If you're facing an overwhelming Jyeeta swarm or just pesky boarding shuttles you can't allow to close, Engage Fighters may be able to give you a quick turn-around to gun down the incoming. Engage Fighters obviously works best when paired with weapons ready for the job, like Autocannons.


[h2]Updated Enemy Officer Talent Selection[/h2]
As more and more Talents and strategies are added to the game the enemy ship and crew builder has a evolving task of trying to pick the best Talent set for its captain and officers. We've updated the rules and weights to pick Talents in order to take into account some of the new Talents as well as adjusting meta conditions. In addition to being more interested in picking up recently added Talents, the AI has 3 new options to try to for different Talent strategies which we believe can lead to more dynamic ship enemies - both in ship combat and if you attempt to board.


[h2]Workshop Highlight[/h2]
We're always very pleased to see how the Steam Workshop -- which was a very late addition!! -- for Star Traders: Frontiers has continued to grow and how many players are using and trying out the variety of mods available. We wanted to take a minute in this Steam Summer Sale update to highlight a few!

The Spy Pack 1 features a bevy of new spy features -- a new spy focus ship, new faster engines, buffed Diplomats and Spies and most notably an all new Spy-focused storyline.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2578776840&searchtext=

If you're looking for more face variety, the Playable Contacts Head Pack brings 24 of the Contact heads into the game as playable heads, letting you pick from some of the coolest and favorite Contact heads for your captain, crew and officers.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2936075922&searchtext=

The most popular mod, @davea's No More Mass Reducers component adjusts how Mass is calculated in the game to remove it as a consideration when designing ships, as well as all titular Mass Reducer components from the starports.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2492139496

If you haven't checked out these or other cool workshop items, take a look!

[h2]v3.3.49 - 7/10/2023[/h2]
- New Rank 15 Pilot Talent: Engage Fighters
- New Rank 15 Soldier Talent: Still Standing
- Improve Enemy Officer & Captain Talent Selection Logic
- Fixed reports typos and crashes

Update #320 comes along with the Steam Summer Sale and the best discount of the year. Save 50% to step onto the bridge of your own Star Trader's vessel and ply the void, to serve the factions, seek your fortune or plot your own course. With this latest update, we've added 2 new rank 15 Talents for the esteemed medical jobs - Combat Medic and Doctor. We've also tuned up the rule set around anti-weapon ship boarding Talents, fixed some bugs with character cosmetics and some issues that could occur in 2 of the 5 branches of the Pit Fighter V storyline.

If you're enjoying the updates, be sure to tell a friend and leave a review!

[h2]What’s the latest on Cyber Knights?[/h2]
Throughout the last year, we’ve been running Cyber Knights: Flashpoint’s private alpha test for Kickstarter backers, following the same tried-and-true process we used for Star Traders: Frontiers. With a demo posted up for Steam Next Fest still freely available to play, development is continuing at a high pace and we are layering on polish as we marching to the launch pad to release to Steam Early Access, so make sure you’ve wishlisted (and followed!), or join us for behind-the-scenes discussion and development snapshots in our Discord.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]Rank 15 Medical Professions[/h2]



[h2]Improved Anti-Weapon Boarding[/h2]
We've improved the rules for boarding victory Talents that specifically target and disable enemy ship weapons. If these Talents are unable to target at least one weapon to destroy -- usually because the ship's weapons are already offline -- then they will refuse to active, won't go on cooldown and will not consume one of your 2 boarding talent slots.


[h2]Pit Fighter V Storyline Fix[/h2]
Thanks to everyone reporting errant issues within the game's many storylines. With this Update, we've fixed a bug in one of the five possible branches you can hit in the Pit Fighter V storyline -- all depending on who hates you the most -- which could lead to early expiration of the rest of the missions. If it was Char's agents, then you might end up in a horrible unfair rush to reach the fourth and final round.

In a follow-up to last update's new character outfits, we've fixed some issues with hats and helmets not interacting with other choices correctly.

[h2]v3.3.47 - 7/2/2023[/h2]
- New Rank 15 Doctor Talent: Medical Reset
- New Rank 15 Combat Medic Talent: Flechette Rounds
- Fixed issue with "Disarming Sabotage" and "Behind Enemy Lines" firing without functioning enemy weapons to target
- Fixed issues with most recently added flight helmet and full helmet
- Fixed bug in Pit Fighter V storyline if attacked by Char's agents, could expire too early

It is Update #319! We've got 2 new character outfits and have completed some important work to make it easy to access the 15th small ship component on your Acheron Battlecarrier (or any ship that a modder adds who has 14+ small ship components!). As always -- huge thanks goes out to everyone playing, posting feedback and especially leaving a review!

[h2]Have You Played Cyber Knights Demo?[/h2]
Our next title will be out later this year and we're excited to share a demo in Steam Next Fest this year - we hope you'll check it out, wishlist and follow. All the same deep systems, extreme replay and maniac update styles you've come to expect and love!

Explore the dark future of 2231 as you run your crew of underworld mercenaries, pulling off high-stakes heists you choose from faction power players to survive. Cyber Knights wraps a world full of consequential story choices and character development around an extensive core of classic and new tactical RPG mechanics.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/


[h2]Added 2 New Outfits[/h2]
It's always a joy to find some art time to sit down and work on new outfits for Star Traders: Frontiers. I'm very excited to have finished this pairing - both dapper, cool and stylish looks. Is this a space diplomat or a soldier who just knows how to dress?

And of course, you can mix and match these outfits to great effect with all of the other outfits in the game.


[h2]The 15th Component[/h2]
With the release of the 9000 Mass Acheron Battlecarrier, we introduced the first ship into the game that had 15 small ship components. While this worked nicely in ship upgrading and if you use the tabular style of viewing components in ship status, it was not visible in the grid mode. We've now ensured that component is visible, just scroll down!

The ability to now scroll the main ship status also helps with a few other overflow issues that have cropped up throughout the game. Those ships with lots of special effects from their ship components could possibly have that content run off the bottom of the screen and that is now resolved.

This also means that modders now have the ability to add beyond 14 small components (up to 28 should work ːsteamhappyː) to the game now.

[h2]Ship Prices[/h2]
As ship component prices shift through rebalances, we're always keeping an eye on ship prices and working to keep the buy and sell economy working nicely, even including all the discounts you can earn from contacts and talents. We've adjusted and raised a few ship prices to help keep these prices in line with the rules.

[h2]v3.3.45 - 6/25/2023[/h2]
- Added 2 new outfits
- Allow scrolling of main ship status screen to view any overflow of ship effects, components
- Fixed small component display for Acheron Battlecarrier to show 15th small component correctly
- Adjusted/raised some ship prices to avoid resell possible loops
- Fixed reports typos and crashes